VicariouslyBob

Last 36 hours in OZ

I left Melbourne to head back to Sydney to go to an Aussie Rules Footie match and to catch my flight to Auckland. My b-school friend Guy had secured tickets to the Sydney Swans versus the Adelaide Crows. I met Guy and another American Jon at a pub for a few pre-game drinks and then we headed into the match. A few too many late nights watching Aussie Rules on ESPN helped to understand the basics and Guy filled in the finer points of tactics and strategy. The highlight of the game was the entry of the game ball by helicopter. Download afl_gamewmv.WMV

Post game we embarked on a pub crawl which ultimately ended at 5 am. Guy bailed around 12:30 or 1 (only excusable since he is a new dad), and Jon and I continued the crawl with a couple of locals who were kind enough to show us around. That night I confirmed one of life’s underlying truths: food tastes much better the later it is and the more alcohol you’ve had to drink. I submit the kebab I had at 4:45 am while walking back to my hotel as proof. I also confirmed that returning to your hotel as others are waiting outside to catch cabs to the airport for their morning flights is usually a sign of a good night. I checked out of the hotel 3 hours later and heading off to the airport for my flight out of Australia.

My big conclusion about Australia: go when it is warmer and plan on spending at least 3 months traveling around. My trip was too fast and too chaotic. It was the equivalent of the appetizer sampler plate, enough of everything to have a taste but not enough of the couple of things you really liked. Oh well, there’s always next time.

Pics of the last night are in the Oz the Begining and End album.

Fore Melbourne

Other than it being a great city, I had one major reason to visit Melbourne: to play golf. I also had drinks with a guy I traveled with in Vietnam named Martin. I played two courses, Royal Melbourne and Kingston Heath. I owe a special thanks to Phil Davis, the Prez of my golf club back home for helping facilitate the rounds by faxing a letter of introduction to the Aussie golf clubs.

The round at Royal Melbourne, the top course in OZ and site of the last President’s Cup, was outstanding. In large part because an older member, named John Greene, asked if I wanted to have a game, as they say. As it turns out, he was the de facto club historian and gave me all the details and stories on Alistair MacKensie’s design and even let me in on a couple of controversial upcoming design changes. I played poorly, but he was a great playing partner. He even brought me a sandwich from home since the snack bar wasn’t open yet. My other round was on a great course but it was cold and rainy and I couldn’t hit the ball straight to save my life.

And that about sums up my brief time (slightly less then 48 hours) in Melbourne.

There are a couple of pics from my trip in the OZ the End album along with some from my last night in Sydney.

White Sands and Blue Waters

As I sat on the night bus not having fun, I tried to keep focusing on the cruise I had signed up for the following day and not the uncomfortable seats. I had heard amazing things about the sailing experience and had high hopes. I’d seen enough of pictures and postcards to know that the area was spectacular. Now if the bus would just hurry up and get me to Airlie Beach I would be immensely happy.

Finding Nemo

Other than sugar cane farming, Cairns is primarily known as a tourist gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and Cape York. The town isn’t that large and is primarily made of hotels, restaurants and crap shops (a.k.a. stores that cater to tourists). I was staying in a 6 person dorm room at a brand new backpacker’s hostel called Gilligan’s. And other than the Sheratons I stayed at in Vietnam and Bangkok, this was the nicest place I’d stayed at on the trip - except for the fact that I would be sharing my room with 5 others.

Oz- in the Beginning

Walking around Sydney felt odd for the first couple of days. For the first time in 6 weeks, I was just like everyone else (probably a bit stranger but only you guys know that). After walking around Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Bangkok for 7 weeks I was no longer the minority. Gone also was cheap food. Air-conditioned rooms with satellite TV for $ 8. Strange & exotic people. Eating un-identifiable food hoping not to get sick.

My friend Wade was nice enough to let me crash at his place during my stay in Sydney. His flat was in Waverly which is quite close to Bondi Beach and was a great place to base myself and also free. Since I didn’t have a plan for my Australia trip and more importantly, didn’t have any warm clothes, my first day was spent wandering over to the mall at Bondi Junction to buy warm clothes and to visit travel agents to sort out the rest of my time in Oz.

That day, I also had the first of what turned out to be a staple of my Aussie diet. No, I ‘m not talking about beer, although that was a big part of my nutritional pyramid. I’m talking about the humble pie. We really don’t have an equivalent in the states, although I suppose a chicken pot pie is probably the closest comparison. If there was a pie completition in Athens, I think the Aussie’s would be up on the top of the podium. The pies in Oz were awesome. Flakey crust filled with all sorts of savory fillings: Beef and peas, beef and mushroom, lamb and veggies, Beef Burgundy, Thai chicken, etc. The pie quickly became my food of choice, especially after a night out.

I had planned on 17 days in total and had a shortish list of places I wanted to see. After consulting with a couple of travel agents it was pretty much sorted out. A couple of days in Sydney followed by a trip up to Queensland for diving and a sailing trip on the Whitsunday Islands. Then it got a bit more vague and was dependant on my ability to get tee times at a couple of golf courses in Melbourne, which ultimately worked out. After Melbourne, I needed to return to Sydney to catch my flight to Auckland.

With my plans sorted out, I headed out to see the main sights in town. The weather was spectacular as I strolled around the harbour. The Opera House looks like all the pictures you’ve seen, yet is still very impressive. The Harbour Bridge is a big bridge - not that amazing as bridges go, but a nice complement to the skyline. I also spent one afternoon riding the ferry from Circular Quay out to Manly and then back again at sunset. One morning, after having brunch with Wade and his girlfriend Carmen, I walked up the coast from Coogee to Bondi Beach and then hung out in Bondi working on the internet and booking a sailing trip for the Whitsunday Islands. That pretty much sums up the major point on my itinerary for my initial stop in Sydney.

Overall, I really enjoyed Sydney but it lacked the exotic edge that I’d grown accustomed to in Asia. My conclusion was that it would have been better to visit in the summer when the beaches were warmer and it would be an amazing place to live. But the best part about my visit was hanging out with my old and new friends. Watching the Australia vs. England rugby match with Wade and his mates. Catching up with my B-school friend, Guy, for beers one night. Having a Vietnam reunion/Darling Harbour pub crawl with Lucy, Sue and Sean was a blast. These are the thing that stood out as I headed off to the airport for my trip to Cairns.

I’ve posted some pictures of Sydney in an album called Oz the Beginning.

Weeks = Days

In addition to my pathetic ability to spell - which has been noted and will be reflected in the quality of the gifts the commentee(s) will receive upon my return - I appartently can't differentiate between weeks and days when writing mass e-mails.

Let me correct my error.

I only spent 18 DAYS in Australia, not 18 weeks.

I think the typo was wishful thinking, especially since it is very cold on the South Island of NZ. The low temp will be -4 C tonight with a high of 6 C on Sat. Not quite swimsuit weather.

If I survive my adventure at the Cardrona Alpine Resort in the morning(40 minutes north of Queenstown), I'll be updating the site later this week.

Where I've been....

....and where I'm at.

San Deigo. Los Angeles.

Hong Kong Airport

Vietnam: Hanoi. Halong Bay. Sapa. Hue. Nah Trang. Dalat. Mue Ne. Ho Chi Minh City. Cantho. Chau Doc.

Cambodia: Phnom Penh. Siam Reap.

Laos: Vientiane (only 30 minutes so it really doesn't count). Vang Vien. Luang Prabang

Thailand: Bangkok

Hong Kong Airport (again)

Australia: Sydney. Cairns. Cape Tribulation. Airlie Beach. Whitsunday Islands. Melbourne (Via Mackay). Sydney

New Zealand: Auckland. Bay of Islands(Paihia). Rotorua. Waitomo. Wangarui. Wellington. Kaikoura. Christchurch (This is where I am at the time of this writing - the pink line on the map is the plan for the next week). Correction. I'm in Franz Joseph on the west coast and will have completed a one day glacier hike by the time you have read this. After I leave Queenstown I really don't have a clue which way I am going to travel. I wanted to do a trek at the Milford Sound but the route is closed due to winter. Maybe another trek somewhere else. We'll see.

For the geographically challenged, I've tried to map out my route as specifically as I could on the attached maps for you to follow along with. The dashed lines represent flights.

Only 5 days left in Oz...

...Shit!

That is all I can say. I've been in Australia for about two weeks now and am having a blast. I just got back from a 3 day sailing trip that was awesome. One of the highlights of my trip so far.

The shit is because I do not have nearly enough time here. I need another couple of months, at least, to see any of it adequately. More on my time here later.

I'm finally getting my ass in gear and have finally finished Vietnam and Cambodia. The stories and albums will post over the next 4 or 5 days, one every couple of days.

Soon after that keep your eyes peeled for Laos and a short update on Bangkok to follow.

A 46..47...48 Day Update

Yes, I am still alive.

I’m on my flight to Hong Kong where I’ll connect to my flight down to Sydney. I thought I’d start to recap what the hell I’ve been up to since I last updated the site 2 weeks (and 2 countries) ago. I’m sure at least 2 or 3 of you are curious.

OK, it's now 3 days later and I really tried to work on this on the flight to Sydney but the movies combined with the sleeping pills distracted me. Now I’ve been in Sydney for 2 days and am finally finishing this sitting in an internet café in Bondi Beach. Time just slips by. I’ll be here in Oz until July 10 when I fly to New Zealand. As of today, my plan it so spend 3 days in Sydney, fly up to Queensland and spend a week in Cairns area and the Whitsunday Islands. Then it’s off to Melbourne for a couple of days and hopefully some golf..

May 7 to June 7 was spent in Vietnam exploring the country from North to South. While I preferred the North to the South, I really enjoyed all of my time in Vietnam. Although it’s hard to pick just a few places, the highlights for me were Hanoi, Sapa, Halong Bay and Hoi An. The people I met and traveled with are another huge part of my enjoyment of Vietnam. It was a rare time when I wasn’t meeting new interesting folks and having a few too many beers and talking about traveling and, inevitably, soccer (a.k.a. football).

From June 7 to June 13, I was in Cambodia. Following the old adage “If you don’t have any nice to say don’t say anything at all,” this will be brief. Before I got to Cambodia (Phnom Penh & Siam Reap), the reviews from other travelers had been mixed with some really loving their time in Phnom Penh and others getting out a soon as possible. I feel guilty to say I fall into the latter category. I can’t quite place my finger on why I didn’t like it. Maybe it was the recent history of the Khmer Rouge or perhaps the frequent warnings not to walk around at night alone. Whatever the reason, I was happy to get on a plane and head out of PP and get to Siam Reap and Angkor Wot. 3 days proved adequate for seeing the numerous temples in the area. I had a week to kill before my flight from Bangkok to Sydney so I pondered spending a week in Bangkok or heading up to Laos, which appeared to be universally loved by every one I’ve met on the trip.

I’d been to Bangkok before so on the 13th I flew to Vientiane, Laos. Since I was only going to in Laos for 6 days until the 19th, I went directly to the bus station for my journey to Vang Vien and Luang Parbang. While very different both places were excellent and my only regret is I didn’t have more time to spend in Laos, in particular the 4000 Islands or the Far North.

I spent the 19th to the 23rd in Bangkok. Once again I cashed in miles and stayed at the Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel on the Chao Phraya River. Strangely, the Royal Orchid was the place I stayed on my first visit to Bangkok with my Dad when I was in the Peace Corps. Thankfully, it had been renovated at least once since then. Most of my stay in Bangkok was spent relaxing, organizing my trip to Oz and being awed by the growth and change in the city. When talking to other visitors, I would occasionally hear myself into a “back in my day, we had to walk uphill to school both ways in a foot of snow.” And yes, I realized that is pathetic.

The most frightening realization hit me recently - my trip is more than halfway over and I’ll have to come back and get a job before I know it. Shit.

Keep your eyes peeled over the next couple of days for the rest of my Asia trip updates and photos.